Vitamin A (VA) restriction in beef cattle improves meat marbling; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood. We performed microarray analysis to clarify the effect of VA restriction on Longissimus thoracis gene expressions in Japanese Black steers. Six Japanese Black steers 13-14 months of age were divided into two groups: S group (n = 3), which received VA supplementation, and R group (n = 3), in which dietary VA intake was restricted. Steers were fattened for 7 months, following which tissue samples were obtained. Extracted RNA samples were analyzed by Affymetrix Genechip Bovine Genome Array. Lists of genes highly expressed in the R and S groups were obtained. The lists were functionally interpreted using functional annotation software, DAVID. In the R and S groups, 48 and 40 genes were significantly highly expressed, respectively. The gene list of the R group included CD36, LPL, GPAM, DGAT2, and SCD and additional genes annotated 'PPAR signaling pathway,' 'lipid biosynthesis' and 'mitochondrion,' whereas that of the S group included COL1A2, FN1 and DCN and additional genes annotated 'extracellular matrix.' Changes in the expression of these genes are possibly involved in marbling improvement in beef cattle by VA restriction.

中文翻译：

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中等增脂阶段维生素A限制的日本黑ste牛的Longissimus胸部肌肉基因表达的微阵列分析。

限制肉牛中的维生素A（VA）可改善肉大理石花纹；然而，潜在的分子机制仍然不完全了解。我们进行了微阵列分析，以阐明VA限制对日本黑ste中Longissimus thoracis基因表达的影响。六个13至14个月大的日本黑公牛分为两组：S组（n = 3）接受了VA的补充； R组（n = 3），其中限制了饮食中VA的摄入。将牛肥育7个月，然后获得组织样本。提取的RNA样品通过Affymetrix Genechip牛基因组阵列分析。获得了在R和S组中高度表达的基因的列表。使用功能注释软件DAVID在功能上解释了这些列表。在R和S组中，分别显着高表达48和40个基因。R组的基因清单包括CD36，LPL，GPAM，DGAT2和SCD，其他基因注释了'PPAR信号传导途径'，'脂质生物合成'和'线粒体'，而S组的基因清单包括COL1A2，FN1和DCN和其他基因注释了“细胞外基质”。这些基因表达的变化可能与通过VA限制使肉牛的大理石花纹改善有关。